Volunteers Speak

BTB volunteers come from all walks of life, and decide to pitch in for many reasons. Some join us for a few hours, others for years. However, everyone agrees that their time spent at BTB is satisfying, educational and transformational.

Check out what some of our volunteers have to say below. To pause the slide show, click directly on the image.

Joe

"It’s important, when you’re behind bars, to know that someone does care, even if you don’t know them. It gives you a little hope. I actually know some guys that are locked up, and I know they would appreciate getting books. I think this is an awesome program."

Kellie

"I first came to Books Through Bars to supervise a group of teenagers participating in a summer service program. It was everyone’s favorite volunteer experience...they learned so much, while feeling that they concretely addressed a need. Now I come with my partner and teenage daughter. When we leave we always feel we have really done something to help someone."

Navin

"I’d been wanting to volunteer, and a friend of mine told me about Books Through Bars. It’s my third time here, and I’ve been enjoying it. It’s good to know you’re enabling someone to read, especially in an age when the popularity of reading is going down."

Rebecca

"I work in a library, so this is a natural fit for me to give back to the community. I’m really interested in community literacy. I like the model of BTB, in which people we’re serving 'come to us' through their letters. Even though the letters are short, you can really get a glimpse of someone who might not have a lot of contact with society."

Lisa

"Books Through Bars is an important cause to try to help the system improve so that when prisoners get out of prisons, they have options. It’s nice to work with like-minded people who want to try to help out and make a difference. I hope that more and more people come and help out, because it’s an important cause."

Will

"When I talk to my family in Sweden and Finland they ask, how does the sentence relate to the crime? What good does the sentence do? There, they put people who commit low-level crimes on work release and give them counseling. The US just warehouses people, throws them into prison and forgets them. I figured I could help at Books Though Bars; because I’m a reader, I can use my knowledge to help find books. It’s a way I can help that is concrete."

Martina

"I’m a high school French teacher. Language, words, and education are important to me. I believe that all words that are written deserve to be read, and some of the letters from the prisoners are really heartfelt. This is important work that needs to be done, to show prisoners that people on the outside care about them, that they matter and we haven’t forgotten about them."

Trinity Lutheran Church in Mt. Joy, PA

"It was such a great opportunity to work with BTB. The youth had a fantastic time shipping books to inmates, and they grew an attachment to every letter they read. The [issues about] mass incarceration that you creatively illustrated lead to great conversation afterward."